Coffee Call
by Relyob
Summary: Balthier is working late one night and Fran interrupts him with a cup of coffee. Oneshot, BalFran. Enjoy!


_**Coffee Call**_

Time stands still for those who do not wish to be found and when one is in the process of conjuring up details on the next huge money heist, one does not wish to be found.

The stale smell of out-of-date food in a small cabin resting in the back of the _Strahl_ was annoying him. Its fumes kept drifting up his nostrils making him feel extremely nauseated. _That blasted Nono must have forgotten to clean out the stock_. Glancing toward an open cupboard in the upper right hand side of the cabin, a large tub of something that looked like a bluish colour met his gaze. He frowned- Inside that tub was supposed to be a strawberry cheesecake. Strawberry cheesecakes are not that colour.

With one fateful sigh, Balthier rose. He made his way across the cramped cabin to the cupboard with the blue-molded cake. As one eyebrow rose he inspected the cake with caution. Recalling a particular memory from the past week Balthier carefully noted to give Nono an ear bashing the next time he saw the moogle as it was Nono who had baked the cake for Fran as a thank you for her helping him complete repairs on the _Strahl_. _Seems he has forgotten how to present gifts,_ "Instead.." He scooped up the tub and held his breath as it rested directly beside his face. "He leaves this. Disgusting." Pushing open the door beside him Balthier carried the cake to the entrance of the Strahl, opened the large metal door with a pull and casually sat the stale food on the soft sands of the Phon Coast (which was where his current idea had lead them to).

He returned to the cabin, a lingering smell of the stale cake still present. This was his planning room. Every idea he had ever conjured had came from this room and no matter how smelly, disgusting or cramped it was, he would remain here until he could 'wow' his partner with his next magnificent idea. So, taking in a deep breath Balthier decided to stop stalling and begin work. Seating himself at the small table in the middle of the cabin, he grabbed some paper, pens and ruler's and began mapping out the main cities in Ivalice at that precise moment...

Though several hours had passed Balthier was still working hard at perfecting this plan. He had managed to take hold of some old, torn sky-pirating books from a shelf in the room which he had made notes in throughout the years and mapped out diagrams on how to infiltrate the royal palace of the newly emerging city of Jolacia. Jolacia was only a small village during the Archadian invasion of Nalbina but since then, it had rose to become a respectable city in its own right. It also housed some valuable treasures which were the reasons as to why Balthier was interested in it. One would think that by saving the world _twice, _one would be rich but in the case of this particular sky pirate, this never seemed to be the case.

Another hour passed.

Balthier eventually began to feel sleep wash over him. It danced on his eyelids like a soothing lullaby, constantly they dropped and by the time he fully immersed himself into the slumber it must have been around three in the morning.

* * *

Accustomed to her partner's nightlong planning sessions, the long legged Viera stalked across the hallway with a large mug and a gun shaped bar of chocolate (courtesy of Penelo) in her hands. Normally, Fran would bring her partner some coffee and maybe a biscuit every time he went into planning mode. Of course, this was not on the request of Balthier- He was too much of a gentleman to ask that she deliver food and drink to him but she knew he appreciated the act immensely.

On this particular night Fran came by a little later than normal. She had been out gathering information on a treasure hunt from some hunter's and inspecting claims of a huge serpent living in the sea. The hunter's at the coast had nicknamed it 'Muckross' as apparently it pry's on those unlucky travellers wandering alone on the coast. Whether these claims were true or not, Fran was unsure of. So, whilst opening the door to the cramped cabin at the back of the Strahl, Fran made a mental note to consult this investigation with Balthier. After all, a huge reward was being offered for the head of this serpent but whether or not that reward would cost them their lives, she did not know.

She entered the room as gracefully as ever to find a peculiar sight- Balthier's head rested atop of a pile of pages, a pen tucked behind his ear and a small pile of drool slowly increasing in size with each gentle snore that escaped from him. Fran couldn't help herself but smile. Placing the mug and chocolate on the table silently Fran tiptoed over to her partner and softly let her fingers run through his hair. Allowing them to rest she slowly lowered her mouth to his ear, whispering seductively, "Balthier..." He stirred a little but did not wake.

"Mhmm.. Jola..cake.."

"Balthier..." Fran murmured again, this time edging them even closer so that her lips were touching his ear.

Still no sign of awakening. "Mmshmm..."

As she caressed the top of his ear with a delicate kiss, she finally received what he wanted. Balthier opened one eye lazily, his head still on the table. All he could see was the outline of Fran's jaw flickering with the flames if the candlelight. "My dear..." He said whilst opening the other eye, "Why must you always tease me with a kiss?" Raising his head from the table and looking deeply into Fran's ruby red eyes Balthier reached out and took hold of the coffee mug. He raised it slightly to Fran and smiled, "Ah... The routine coffee call, I thank you Fran."

"Kisses are all you seem to register, Balthier. I should think it would be good for you to clean this... Drool. It's not a particularly flattering scene." Fran arched an eyebrow accusingly. "And with this new pandemic disease sweeping Ivalice it would be best for us not to have our germs spread everywhere."

Balthier merely laughed embarrassingly. Never having drooled before in his life a faint redness came over him. It was extremely peculiar how Fran was the only girl who could ever make him blush. "I do apologise, Fran." Whilst wiping up the drool with a napkin from his trousers he added, "Yet don't you find it a little hypocritical for you to criticise my drool when it is you who is spreading the germs. My ear must be unbelievably infected with Fran-germs by now." He winked at her to which she stifled a laugh.

Sitting herself atop of the table she made sure that Balthier's notes were out of the way. "You will have a break now?" Balthier nodded. "That is good." She crossed one long leg over the other and eyed Balthier, waiting for him to ask about what she had discovered. Fran, still clad in her armour only just noticed the difference in Balthier's appearance from his usual planning nights.

Balthier wore a red shirt, unbuttoned so that his collarbone and Eruyt Village pendant could be seen. Fran and Balthier had met another rogue Viera who had followed in Fran's footsteps on the Dalmascan Eastersand a few months back. She was selling pendants and rings of her home village to anyone she could. Fran seeked nothing for she knew the Viera was selling her wares for much more than they were worth, however Balthier decided to purchase a small silver pendant which held Eruyt Village's emblem surrounded by tree's on a thin silver thread. She never knew he wore it. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows and the black trousers he wore were not his normal, armour-clad pair. Instead these were slouchy black jogging bottoms which did not match the bright yellow socks he wore.

"Yes?"

"?"

"You're looking at me with quite a strange expression. Is there something wrong?"

Fran merely shook her head, "No... It is nothing."

Nodding, Balthier took a sip of his coffee. "Delicious Fran, as always." He raised his feet up to the table and slouched back in his chair taking in the smell of the coffee. Fran handed him the chocolate gun. "And a chocolate? My, my Fran I thank you, gratefully. Have you found out anymore of this serpent creature?"

Fran nodded slightly, "That I have. The hunter's call it Muckross. Apparently it feeds on anything it can. There is a huge reward on offer if the head is brought to the master hunters and I would advise us to start with our search immediately as I have heard other sky pirate's are currently on their way here as we speak to claim the reward."

"No doubt who that will be..." Balthier muttered as he bit into the chocolate gun, "When will that boy realise that it is I who plays the leading man, not him." Looking up at Fran, Balthier laughed at her expression. "Don't even say it, Fran!"

"I won't."

"Good... Good, good." Wiping some sleep out of his eyes and taking another sip of his coffee Balthier looked at gazed at his partner. "Now, what type of break do you call this if all we speak of is work?" He removed his feet from the table and leant forward in his chair so that he was closer to Fran. "I'll have you know Fran that you're in for quite a surprise soon."

Fran, herself, bent closer down toward Balthier, "What sort of surprise would that be, Balthier?"

"A surprise is only a surprise if you don't suspect it." He whispered, ever so slowly moving his lips closer to Fran's, "Did you suspect this?"

Fran didn't reply. Her breathing was heavy.

"Eh Fran?"

His breath was warm against her lips.

"A little."

They closed in with a passionate but quick kiss, the call of Balthier's coffee only allowing him a short eternity from the work of a Sky Pirate.

* * *

Hiya. I was originally planning to make this into an actual story, that is why there are other mentionings of things that don't make a difference to the story but in the end I decided on just a one-shot. I love comma's and have no patience for checking over my grammar as you have probably noticed. Thanks for reading!

-Relyob


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